Romney set the stage yesterday by announcing his own jobs plan, in anticipation of tonight’s debate and Obama’s plan to be announced tomorrow:

On his first day in office, Romney will submit a jobs package to Congress consisting of at least five major proposals and will demand that Congress act on the package within 30 days, using every power at his disposal to ensure its passage. He will also take immediate and specific steps within his sole authority as president by issuing a series of executive orders that gets the U.S. government out of the economy’s way. The goal: restore America to the path of robust economic growth necessary to create jobs.

The American Competitiveness Act - Reduces the corporate income tax rate to 25 percent

The Open Markets Act - Implements the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea Free Trade Agreements

The Domestic Energy Act - Directs the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive survey of American energy reserves in partnership with exploration companies and initiates leasing in all areas currently approved for exploration

The Retraining Reform Act - Consolidates the sprawl of federal retraining programs and returns funding and responsibility for these programs to the states

An Order to Pave the Way to End Obamacare - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and all relevant federal officials to return the maximum possible authority to the states to innovate and design health care solutions that work best for them

An Order to Cut Red Tape - Directs all agencies to immediately initiate the elimination of Obama-era regulations that unduly burden the economy or job creation, and then caps annual increases in regulatory costs at zero dollars

An Order to Boost Domestic Energy Production - Directs the Department of the Interior to implement a process for rapid issuance of drilling permits to developers with established safety records seeking to use pre-approved techniques in pre-approved areas

An Order to Sanction China for Unfair Trade Practices - Directs the Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports if China does not quickly move to float its currency

An Order to Empower American Businesses and Workers - Reverses the executive orders issued by President Obama that tilt the playing field in favor of organized labor, including the one encouraging the use of union labor on major government construction projects

If your views are at all like mine, reading these plans will send chills down your spine.Yet of the two front-runners today, Romney is the less conservative.

I hope you’re planning to watch tonight’s debate.It begins at 8 p.m. ET on MSNBC and will re-air on CNBC and Telemundo.POLITICO will be livestreaming the debate online – with a pre-debate show from the Library beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET and post-debate analysis immediately following. Watch it at: politico.com/reagandebate.